The Workplace Engagement
Specialists
Sector:
Pharma
Annual Sales:
£34,017,000
Number of Staff:
170
Sites:
0
Founded:
1962
Ownership:
3 public (i.e, stock market listed)
Male to Female ratio:
41% / 59%
Staff Turnover:
14%
Earning £35,000+:
34%
Typical Job:
Medical sales representative
The medication seems to be working at Solvay Healthcare as it makes the top 100 small companies for a second year running. Staff at the Southampton-based pharmaceutical sales and marketing firm are fit and well, with employee health not suffering because of work notching up an 82% positive score.
Retaining and cultivating talent from within is essential to Solvay's success. The key replacement programme identifies and develops leaders from the existing workforce, the best of whom receive training at Ashridge business school. Staff receive an average 21-30 days' training off the job each year. They obviously approve of the development courses and say these really help them (78%).
Employees are spurred on by several awards schemes and believe they can make a valuable contribution to the success of the organisation (82%).
The company's bedside manner helps maintain a healthy work/life balance. The employee assistance programme makes sure any issues are dealt with. Solvay provided one salesman with a driver for a year after they lost their driving licence through illness. Staff appreciate the support, saying their manager cares about them as an individual (82%), and that people in their team care a lot for each other (85%).
Solvay also helps those outside the company. It supports a local teenage drop-in centre, offering both financial and managerial aid. The company makes ongoing charitable donations, as well as one-offs such as helping victims of the Asian tsunami and the Pakistan earthquake. While employees feel proud to work for Solvay (82%), they also believe in its values and principles (85%).
Teamwork is lauded among staff. Employees say that they feel a strong sense of family in their team (81%), that colleagues go out of their way to help them and that it is easy to be themselves at work (both 82% positive scores), and that their team is fun to work with (86%).